1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending it through his angel to his servant John,
2who testified to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all that he saw.
3Blessed is the one who reads aloud and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
John's Greeting to the Churches
4John, to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne,
5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood,
6and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father — to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Yes, Amen.
8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
One Like a Son of Man
9I, John, your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
10I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
11saying, “Write what you see in a scroll and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
12Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me; and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands,
13and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded around at the chest with a golden sash;
14his head and his hair were white like white wool, like snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire;
15and his feet were like burnished bronze, as refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters;
16and he had in his right hand seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in its power.
17And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. And he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last,
18and the Living One; and I became dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of Hades.
19Write, therefore, the things you saw, and the things that are, and the things that are about to take place after these.
20As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are seven churches.
Where this passage connects across Scripture — each link typed and reasoned, part of the AIT Bible Nexus Chart.
John's Greeting to the Churches
parallelRevelation 4:1— The seven Spirits of God before the throne repeat the sevenfold Spirit named in Revelation's greeting.
allusionDaniel 7:13— Shared imagery of one coming 'with the clouds' echoes Daniel's vision of the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven.
echoed inDaniel 7:1— Revelation's 'he is coming with the clouds' draws on Daniel's son of man imagery.
allusionExodus 19:6— 'a kingdom, priests' echoes God's promise that Israel would be a kingdom of priests.
echoed inExodus 19:1— Revelation echoes the promise that God's people are made 'a kingdom, priests' to God.
allusionIsaiah 44:6— 'the Alpha and the Omega' as divine self-designation parallels Isaiah's 'I am the first and I am the last.'
echoed inIsaiah 55:1— Christ described as 'the faithful witness' echoes David as a witness to the peoples.
allusionPsalms 89:27— 'firstborn' and 'ruler of the kings of the earth' echoes the Davidic king made firstborn and highest of the kings of the earth.
echoed inRevelation 3:1— The self-description 'the one who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars' echoes the opening vision of Christ holding the seven stars amid the seven Spirits.
echoed inRevelation 16:1— The title 'the One who is and who was' repeats the distinctive divine self-designation from Revelation's opening.
echoed inRevelation 21:1— God self-designates as 'the Alpha and the Omega' as in the opening of Revelation.
echoed inRevelation 22:12— Same self-identification as Alpha and Omega within Revelation.
allusionZechariah 12:10— 'those who pierced him' and 'all the tribes of the earth will mourn' echoes Zechariah's mourning for the one they pierced.
thematic1 John 1:5— Cleansing from sin by the blood of Jesus parallels 'him who freed us from our sins by his blood.'
One Like a Son of Man
parallelRevelation 4:1— The voice like a trumpet and being 'in the Spirit' repeat the visionary experience described in chapter 1.
parallelRevelation 10:1— The angel's face like the sun and feet like pillars of fire parallel the earlier description of the exalted Christ.
allusionDaniel 7:13— 'one like a son of man' directly echoes Daniel's vision.
allusionDaniel 10:5— The figure clothed in a long robe and girded with a golden sash echoes the angelic man in Daniel's vision.
allusionDaniel 7:9— White hair like wool and snow echoes Daniel's Ancient of Days.
allusionDaniel 10:6— Eyes like a flame of fire and feet like burnished bronze echo Daniel's vision of the heavenly man.
allusionDaniel 10:9— John falling as though dead and being told not to fear parallels Daniel's reaction to the vision.
echoed inDaniel 7:1— John's vision of 'one like a son of man' with hair white as wool combines Daniel's son of man and Ancient of Days imagery.
echoed inDaniel 10:1— John's vision of the son of man in linen with face like the sun, eyes like fire, and feet like burnished bronze draws directly on this angelic figure's description.
allusionEzekiel 43:2— 'his voice was like the sound of many waters' echoes Ezekiel's description of God's voice.
echoed inEzekiel 1:4— The sound of the divine presence described as many waters is echoed in Revelation's Christophany.
echoed inEzekiel 43:1— Shared imagery of the divine voice being like the sound of many waters.
allusionIsaiah 49:2— The sharp sword from his mouth echoes Isaiah's Servant whose mouth is made a sharp sword.
allusionIsaiah 44:6— 'I am the First and the Last' echoes God's self-designation in Isaiah.
echoed inIsaiah 41:1— Christ's self-description 'the first and the last' echoes Yahweh's title here.
echoed inIsaiah 48:12— The risen Christ takes up Yahweh's title 'the first and the last' from this text.